Posts Tagged ‘baller’

The Miami Heat has made significant changes that has them competing for home court advantage in the eastern conference. They have secured one of the top positions and are continuing to progress as the season winds down and the NBA gets ready for the playoffs.

I will always stand firm on the belief that teams are only as good as ownership and Mickey Arison has put his trust in Pat Riley to manage this organization into one of the best run teams in the league. Riley’s disciple Erik Spoelstra took over the team as head coach in 2008 and has since produced 2 championships. Many could argue the fact that a lot of that had to do with Lebron James being a part of the team for those wins because the team has not been to the finals since James’s departure.

The Heat has always seem to be an after thought in regards to being in serious discussions for winning a championship but they have retooled their roster and are making the league pay close attention to their run. They could possibly prove to be one of the sleepers of the eastern conference this year. Coach Spoelstra has made some risky but solid line up moves since the team has lost Chris Bosh (possibly for the season due to blood clots reforming in his lungs) and signing of ex Brooklyn Net Joe Johnson.

The reconstruction of the starting line up features Goran Dragic (PG), Dwayne (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Luol Deng (PF), and fast pace big man vet Amare Stoudemire. This allows Hassan Whiteside to be featured off the bench and has since increased his production to 18.8pts, 16rebs, and 4 blocks in the last 11 games. Josh Richardson, Justice Winslow, and Gerald Green are solid pieces off the bench to have around Whiteside who anchors the entire team’s defense.

Overall they seemed to have made the right adjustments and will be an exciting team to watch as the season closes.